The satellite laser ranging station Katzively.
of the Main Astronomical Observatory NAS of Ukraine

Hardware

The SLR station Katzively consists of the following basic technical systems:

• laser,
• operation system of the telescope,
• photoreceiver,
• time and frequency service,
• measurement & information system.

The SLR station Katzively has the following technical characteristics:

	expected overall accuracy of the system	Δ 5 cm
	operating staff	3 persons
	calibration	external
	range of operation	400 - 40000 km
	observed scale	semisphere with dead zone near zenith
	max angular rate in azimuth and zenith	2 deg/sec
	accuracy of tracking	6 arcmin

The operation system of the telescope consists of three parts:

• telescope,
• step-motor drivers,
• position sensors of the telescope (encoders).

The SLR station Katzively is equipped with the telescope TPL-1 with the following characteristics:

	optical system	coude focus
	transmitting-receiving system	combined in the same telescope
	primary mirror diameter	1 m
	secondary mirror diameter	0.25 m
	focus distance for 532 nm	11.5 m
	weight	650 kg
	mounting	altazimuth
	field of view	30'* 30'
	point accuracy	20"
	controlled change of the laser beam divergence on the telescope output	6 - 50"
	magnitude with optical intensifier	up to +15m
	computer for mount tracking	Pentium, 75 MHz

The telescope mount has the following peculiarities:

	step-motor	1.0"
	velocity of tracking possibility	0-2 deg/sec
	laser	in coude
	controlled tracking	step by step
	axis oscillation	20"
	accurasy of tracking	20"
	guide	combined in the same telescope

Laser Nd: YAG, PULSAR have the following characteristics:

	wavelength	532 nm
	pulse energy	100 mJ
	pulse width	350 ps
	mode	TEMoo
	repetition rate	1-5 Hz
	divergence	0.4 mrad
	controlled change of the laser beam divergence on the telescope output	6" - 50"

The transmitting-receiving system has start and stop channels.

Start channel consists of:

	start detector	FEK-15
	start discriminator type	CFD

Stop channel consists of:

	PMT	H6279
	spectral filter	0.2 nm, 40%, 532 nm
	pulse amplifier
	discriminator	CFD
	time interval counter	SR620

The SLR station Katzively is equipped with the photoreceiver with the following characteristics:

	type of photomultiplier	H6279
	quantum effectivity at 532 nm	8,00%
	time resolution	100 ps
	optical filter	reflectional golographical filter
	coefficient of reflection at 532 nm	40%
	width	0.2 nm

Time and frequency service has the following peculiarities:

	type of time and frequency standards	ThuderBolt GPS Disciplined Clock
	number of the time and frequency standard	2
	stability	3-5*10-11
	type of UTC receiver	GPS, SveeSix, Trimble
	fitting to the UTC by means of GPS system	±50 ns

Measurement and information system consists of:

	computer type	Pentium, 75 MHz
	time interval counters	SR620
	resolution	40 ps
	measuring time with programming time-gates	1,0 ms - 10 c
	time-gates width	00,2 mks - 3,2 ms
	interval calibration error	250 - 350 ps
	accuracy of detection of events	1.5 ns